Curly Hair

I am going to tell you what I know about curly hair.  Since I don't own one ounce of curl in my hair,  I have done a lot of research on curly hair.  I feel curly hair clients are the least educated about their hair.  It seems they are told that curly hair cannot be controlled so just style it straight.  It is a lot easier to handle it that way.  Au contraire!  Curly hair is GORGEOUS and I will teach you what I know about it so you can achieve the curly hair that we all covet!

Most curly hair clients look like this:

If you look at your hair in the mirror and notice that you have a lot of frizz and it looks like your hair is reaching up away from your head looking for something it is because it really is.  Moisture!  Moisture is what most curly hair clients lack.  Hair raises up looking for moisture like a plant raises up looking for sun.  So it is extremely important to find the right products that work best for your dehydrated locks.

1.  Lets just show you a few pictures of what I consider curly hair (not wavy and not corkscrew.)

 

2.  Curly hair basically holds it shape from roots to ends.  It is not a super tight curl but it is not a loose curl either.  Once you understand where you fit in the "curly hair" you will better understand how to take control of your curls.

3.  The most important thing.  If you are planning on wearing your hair curly the majority of the time, get your hair cut dry and when it is in its curly form.  Your curls are not in their true form until they are completely dry.  If the stylist insists on cutting your hair wet I would get up and leave.  They don't understand curly hair.  It doesn't make sense to cut curly hair wet because as the stylist combs through the hair they stretch it out to cut the ends.  There are two things wrong with this.  1) Your curls do not need to be stretched out and 2) your curls do not need a comb raking through it after it has been washed.  All a comb does is create friction which creates frizz.  So I feel very strongly that if you are going to get a trim, do your research and ask your stylist if they know how to cut curly hair dry.  If they do not, head for the hills my friends! :)  Curly hair needs layers so it can lay correctly, not like a Christmas tree.   Also, never, ever let your stylist razor your hair.  That is just setting up your curls for disaster!

How to take care of curly hair
1.  Very important to get a shampoo and conditioner that has no sulfate.  Look for sulfate-free products.  Good shampoos and conditioners are:


Pureology Super Smooth                 Ouidad Curl quencher            


 Moroccanoil Moisture Repair


2.  After you have shampoo'd your hair, apply the conditioner to your hair and comb through with your fingers or, even better, a shower comb to make sure that the conditioner gets every part of your hair.

There are a few reasons why curly hair goes really frizzy.  A) When you towel dry your hair you are using a regular towel.  If you use a microfiber towel it will be less friction on your curls.  You can also try paper towels to blot your hair from the excess water.  That is also another key to frizz free curls, don't rub your hair dry or twist it up in a turban.  Blot your hair to get the excess moisture out but make sure you leave it wet so you can add products.  And B) if you are combing your curls out after the shower, you have just started the process of frizzing out your hair.  So try to just use a comb/pick in the shower and make sure it is a wide-tooth comb.

So, now you are at the point where you have blot dry your hair and it is ready for products.  You want to put in a few things that add moisture to your hair so all your hair has to worry about is defining its curl.  First spray in some leave-in conditioner:

Carol's Daughter Tui Leave-in conditioner          


 Ouidad Sun shield and Leave-in Conditioner



Redken Anti-snap                            Matrix total results moisture cure


Make sure you apply the leave-in from roots to ends.  Then you want to add another conditioning agent like:

Moroccanoil                                 Loreal Mythic Oil



Pureology precious oil


You want to apply the oil starting at your ends and going just half-way up your hair.  Then your last product to apply to your hair is a curl defining cream or gel:


Pureology RealCurl                     Redken ringlet 07                    



Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream



*  These are just options.  There are many brands to choose from.

After you have applied all your moisturizing product your curls should already look like they are shouting for joy that they have finally received the moisture they need!  It is a good idea to apply the product tilting your head so your hair is hanging down and you start scrunching the product through the ends and finishing at the roots.  Do this in sections to make sure you have applied the product throughout your hair.  If your hair dries crunchy, you put too much of the curl defining cream or gel in and you need to do less next time or your hair was too dry when you applied the product.

You can choose from here to either air dry or diffuse dry.

TIP:  To get more volume at the roots, rub your fingers on your scalp like you are giving yourself a head massage.  That should help wake up your roots and give you some volume up top so you don't look like a Christmas tree.

If you air dry, you are done!  If you choose to diffuse dry here are some tips.  Blow-dry on low speed and high temp.  When you are drying the underneath dry your hair standing straight up and putting the curls in the diffuser going in an up and down motion.  When you dry the top, tip your hair upside down and do the up and down motion until your hair is completely dry.

If you have some wild areas that need some taming grab a small curling iron or curling wand and curl them to the style you like.



TIP:  Curly hair only needs shampoo once or twice a week.  You don't want to dry your hair out more then it is and with detergents in shampoo, they will do that to your curls.  You can usually go 2-3 days without washing your hair.  If you feel the need to wash it everyday you can, but I recommend that you only wet and condition your hair on the other days so you don't dry out your curls.

Second day hair
I am sure once you get out of bed and look in the mirror you look like this



There is a solution for this!  All you need is a refresher spray and a water bottle.  Just spritz your hair with some water and gently pick or wide-tooth comb out your hair to get rid of the knots then add a refresher spray (which could also be a leave-in conditioner.)

I heard from my mother-in-law (who has curly hair), who heard from her stylist that if you put rosewater in your spray bottle and spray your hair it really helps reduce frizz.  Water is a different pH then our hair so they battle each other a little bit, but rosewater is at the pH or close to the pH of our hair so it doesn't cause that yucky frizz!  Pretty neat!